Novak Djokovic needed a medical timeout and a late tie-break, but the 39-year-old still left Beijing unbeaten. On his first China Open appearance since 2015, the sixth seed beat Portugal’s Nuno Borges 6-3, 7-6(2) in one hour and 51 minutes and pushed his career record at the ATP 500 event to a perfect 30-0.
The win also ended a three-match losing run that stretched from a Wimbledon semi-final defeat to Jannik Sinner through first-round exits in Cincinnati and at the US Open. It was Djokovic’s first official match since Mariano Navone beat him in five sets in New York four weeks ago.
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